The Strike Dragon Slayer
by SunsetWhisper
Summary: The Isle of Berk has had their magic powers sealed away and the dragons that plagued the Viking border vanished ten years ago. After escaping a threat and crash-landing on Berk, Hiccup, a Strike Dragon Slayer and his dragon-parent, a Night Fury named Toothless appear and try to change Berk for the best. This is my first story. Technically an AU. Disclaimer: I own nothing:)
1. Chapter 1

_10 years ago, a huge dragon attack hit the Meridan of Misery, a nation famous for its magic and mystery. The leader of one of the many islands; the isle of Berk, was gathering the warriors on the island to defend their home from the huge fire-breathing beasts._

_"Keep the village safe!" the leader, Stoick the Vast, bellowed loudly. The villagers complied and used their strength and skill to aid their chief._

_As they fought, the wife of Stoick, Valka, carried her five year old son, Hiccup towards the Great Hall along with the other mothers and children. "What's going to happen to Daddy?" the young boy asked his mother, clutching her shoulder armour and staring up at her._

_Valka slowed as she got to the steps and smiled at Hiccup, "Don't worry, son. He's going to protect this village and keep us all safe, just as you will one day."_

_"But I don't know to fight!"_

_"It'll come, Hiccup. One day, you'll discover it," Valka set her child down before hearing a roar above her head. "DUCK!" she screamed, shoving Hiccup to the ground as a dragon soared over them. "A...A Night Fury..." Valka whispered, staring at the dragon who was now hovering above them, its emerald, reptilian eyes staring at the parent and child in curiosity._

_Hiccup was about to grab the hand of Valka but the Night Fury gave a sudden screech and dived down, snatching Hiccup off of the ground and flying in the direction of the beach, ignoring the terrified screams of the child or the frantic cries of help from his mother._

_Valka dropped to her knees as the image of the dragon and her only child flew further and further. Her eyes were wide in shock and she was too stunned to speak, she felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her as she continued to stare into the distance. Her eyes watered and a tear slid down the left-side of her face. "Hiccup..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "HICCUP!"_

* * *

"**HICCUP**!" the noise woke Hiccup from his slumber as he sat up, panting. He grabbed his head with his left hand and sighed. A low groan stirred him through his thoughts as he smiled down at the huge ebony-scaled dragon curled around his body. "Good morning to you too, Toothless!" Hiccup chuckled, standing up and stretching his arms.

The dragon grunted and sat up, cocking his head and looking at Hiccup with an expression that said; What-happened-this-time?

Hiccup, having been raised by the Night Fury for ten years, simply laughed and replied, "You can read me like a book, can't you? It's just another dream, Toothless. Nothing unusual about that."

Toothless rolled his eyes and nudged Hiccup's head gently, a gesture that Hiccup knew as Toothless' way of comforting him. Hiccup scratching Toothless under his chin and then allowed the dragon to wander off, probably to go fishing, which was the same thing that Toothless did every morning.

"Today's the day that I turn fifteen," Hiccup said to himself as he wondered over to an old, gnarled tree with nine lines drawn on them. He took the small dagger from the sash of his green tunic and added another line to the bark, making ten lines before sliding it back in his belt and wondering through the forest to find where Toothless had wandered off to.

"So, are you sure that this is the place?" a strange voice stirred Hiccup, causing him to leap behind a large tree and listen. He could smell a nasty scent on the intruders of this island and it made him worry.

"Of course I'm sure! The men on the boat said they saw that beast land on the shores here! I know it's here; I can feel it!"

"Then, we should find the dragon before it finds out that _we're_ here."

Hiccup stiffened in fear as he listened. So Dagur was chasing Toothless again? Hiccup groaned softly and then quickly ran stealthily through the forest. As he got away from the two trespassers, he put his hand to the side of his mouth and made a Night-Fury roar that would reach Toothless in no time.

Sure enough, the call echoed and soon alerted Toothless, disturbing him from his fishing. His eyes dilated and he growled a little as Hiccup only called out like that if there was danger near. With an angry roar, Toothless ran towards the echo of Hiccup's call.

* * *

**Hello everybody :) This is the first fanfic I have ever written so I hope you like it! ^^ Thank you for reading! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Hiccup picked up the pace as he continued to run, however, he stopped dead when one of the intruders stood in front of him with a sword in his hand. He wore a metal helmet that covered all of his face, except his eyes and he wore metal armour all over his body that didn't look very comfortable. "Looks like we found something else of interest, sir."

"Good, Vorg," another voice from behind Hiccup startled him. He stepped away from the other intruder, a man who wore a helmet, like Vorg's, but Hiccup could see his smirking-face and dark brown eyes as they lit up in glee; the rumour of the dragon raising a human boy were looking to be true. Now all the captain had to do was prove this... "Where's the Night Fury, child?"

"He's not here," Hiccup answered truthfully, he glared angrily at the two strangers, "and even if I did know where he is, I wouldn't tell the likes of _you_."

"I see," the man scowled at Hiccup before looking up at Vorg. "Bring him."

"W-what?" Hiccup stuttered, his eyes glancing at Vorg worriedly. "I thought you guys were after Toothless?"

"The dragon?" the captain asked, smirking again at the worried boy. "Dagur gave us orders to retrieve it, yes. But now that we know that the Night Fury raised a human, this means that there's a possibility you can use Strike-Magic, yes?"

As the captain reached out to grab Hiccup's arm, a furious screech alerted the three humans that a possibly-seething dragon was about to tear the intruders to pieces. Just as they all predicted, a sleek, panther-like dragon dived down and landed in front of Hiccup, causing the other two men to back off hastily.

Toothless arched his body, his long tail curling around Hiccup protectively as he watched every move of the men, daring them to attack.

"The Night Fury!" Vorg gasped in surprise, staring at the beast in wonder.

"There's no time to be gawking, you idiot!" the captain quickly smacked Vorg on the back of his head hard. "Secure the stupid beast!"

Toothless crouched lower to the ground, he knew what the two trespassers were going to try to do and he wouldn't let them. He turned his head and glanced at Hiccup, his gaze softened before he suddenly launched forward, darting toward the two men with a killing intent.

Toothless pounced but the strength of the captain was underestimated by the dragon as the man used the flat side of his sword to shove Toothless away like a fly. Toothless hit the ground hard, landing on one of his paws while the other warrior, Vorg, shoved Toothless' head to the ground and held his sword point at the back of the dragon's neck.

"Toothless, no!" Hiccup yelled, watching in horror at what was happening to his dragon. Hiccup stood up straight, lowering his head and breathing out in worry, even though he was scared and knew the dangers; he had to use his magic to protect Toothless! With this thought in mind, he closed his eyes and activated his magic, running toward the Night Fury to aid him.

The men gasped as a purple and black magic symbol appeared above Hiccup's head as Hiccup took a deep breath of air into his mouth. The magic symbol glowed as Hiccup's pace got quicker. "STRIKE DRAGON ROAR!" he yelled, breathing out a large purple and black blast which knocked the captain off of his feet.

Toothless struggled under Vorg's iron-grip but managed to get free after Vorg's attention was drawn to Hiccup and his unconscious captain. A hard slap in the face with Toothless' tail knocked Vorg off of his feet, sending him sprawling in a heap beside the captain.

Toothless hissed at the two men and then padded over to Hiccup, nudging the boy away from the two men. "I know, Toothless," Hiccup said, looking back at the forest as they headed in the direction of their settlement. "It's time to leave again, isn't it?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Toothless, which way should we head?" Hiccup asked as they reached their settlement. He quickly ran over to the cave and packed his few belongings in a handmade satchel, as he finished, he glanced over his shoulder and watched as Toothless stood facing in the direction of the sun in the sky.

"Ya' know," Hiccup sighed deeply as Toothless walked over and nuzzled him affectionately. "I'm going to miss it here; we've been in peace for a long time. I guess it's starting again, huh?"

Toothless made a rumbling sound as he tilted his head at Hiccup, which caused him to laugh and climb onto his dragon. "Let's go," Hiccup said, feeling confident that Toothless would find another peaceful island.

Said-dragon roared happily and took off, soaring into the sky and up past the cotton-white clouds. Without looking back at their old home, the duo set off into the direction of the sun in the distance.

* * *

Within another part Viking Border, on the isle of Berserk, a young chief, named Dagur was waiting to depart for the island of Berk for their yearly treaty signing. Great Hall, panting after running a long distance from the docks to the village.

"Sir, the ships are almost ready to leave," reported one of the soldiers, bursting into the Berserker's

"Good," Dagur grunted, standing up straight and walking toward the soldier with a grin plastered on his face. "We'll be taking the longer way, this time. I trust you've alerted the captain of each ship in the armada?"

"We have; they all know where to go, sir."

"Well, I'd better head down to my main ship," Dagur chuckled darkly, snatching his sword from one of the thick wooden tables and sheathing it into his belt. There was a reason why he was taking the longer way; he was on the lookout for the Night Fury that escaped him so many years ago. He'd heard rumours of the dragon being spotted in the Viking Borders so he had sent out several troops to try and locate the beast.

Dagur walked outside and stared down at his village. He thought about the disappearance of the entire dragon species ten years ago. He gritted his teeth angrily; he needed that Night Fury! It was the only dragon that had been sighted flying from island to island; the only one! Dagur would eventually get his hands on the creature; he just had to be patient.

"With your help," Dagur stopped in front of the wooden pillars outside of the Great Hall and smirked, stroking the outline of a Night Fury which had been carved on it, "I'll be able to finally find the symbol of the Berserkers; the all-powerful Skrill."

* * *

The clouds seemed to get darker and larger as Hiccup and Toothless soared through the sky. Hiccup sniffed the air as did Toothless which caused them both to groan loudly in unison. "A storm is coming," Hiccup announced, looking up at the sky above him. He stroked Toothless' head, causing the dragon to make a contented purring noise. "We best land on an island soon, Toothless."

Toothless complied, diving down under the bleak grey clouds until they were gliding above a large island surrounded by the ocean, the waves fiercely smacking the cliffs and statues of what looked like Vikings to Hiccup. When the duo got closer, Hiccup noticed that there was a settlement, a large one at that.

"It's occupied...great..." Hiccup sighed, before he and Toothless could turn around to find another empty island to settle on, they heard the quiet sound of thunder in the distance. Hiccup tensed while Toothless looked at the island pleadingly. "We have no choice," Hiccup muttered, patting Toothless' head, "land on the island, Toothless. We'll find a place in that forest to take shelter."

The Night Fury gave a roar of agreement and then started to fly up higher to find a decent area to land. As soon as they flew over the village, several torches were suddenly lit and a number of ropes with rocks tied on each edge circled in their direction. Before Toothless or Hiccup could comprehend the main purpose of these objects, they hit the target and wrapped around Toothless' wings, which pinned Hiccup down uncomfortably.

Hiccup cried out as the two fell from the sky. Toothless attempted to free his wings but there was the risk of him throwing Hiccup off of his back, all the dragon could do was fall and hit the ground, where darkness welcomed the both of them.


	4. Chapter 4

Hiccup's eyes twitched as he awoke, he blinked and hissed in pain as he felt a dampened cloth on his forehead, he could feel the dampened-rough fabric help relieve the small ache in his head. As he took note of his surrounding, he found himself tucked in a bed inside a house with a crackling fire close to the bed he lay on. As Hiccup tried to sit up, he felt a sharp pain and looked under his long-sleeved green tunic where his stomach and ribs had been bandaged, along with his right arm.

"I see you're awake," the sudden voice stirred Hiccup out of his inner thoughts and startled him, causing him to shrink back against the wooden board of the bed.

"Don't panic," a man suddenly stepped into the light of the fire. Hiccup stared up at him with his mouth open; the man had red hair pulled back into a braid and a large, red beard with the ends braided. He wore a long dark-green vest-like tunic which had a large thick brown belt with a dragon pattern on the buckle. He also wore brown leggings under his tunic which were tucked into his boots, as well as a long fur cape that reached his knees. On his head was a traditional-Viking helmet, the horns looked like they belonged to a bull and he had a stern-looking face, although his eyes and overall scent showed concern, which Hiccup took in immediately.

"W-Where's Toothless?" Hiccup stammered, failing his second-attempt of getting out of the bed.

"Toothless?" the man repeated, blinking. He suddenly realised what the boy was referring to. "Oh! The beast? It's alive, for now."

"For...now?" Hiccup repeated slowly, watching the man carefully. He suddenly felt a surge of fear. "Who are you, exactly?" Hiccup tried not to show his panic to this stranger, he kept his eyes on the man and clenched his shaking hands tightly into fists.

"My name is Stoick the Vast," the man responded boldly. "I am the chief of Berk; you've been unconscious since yesterday. Now answer me this, boy; who are _you_ and when and where did you find a dragon?"

Hiccup stared back defiantly at Stoick. "I don't have to answer that," he muttered stubbornly. Stoick's eyes twitched with irritation at Hiccup but breathed in slowly to keep himself calm.

"I see," Stoick walked away from Hiccup and began prodding the fire with a long, old-looking metal rod. He waved his hand in the direction of a long brown poncho-like scarf with fur around the bottom and a small cross-stitched pattern of a Night Fury on it. "Judging from the clothes that you're wearing, I'm going to assume that you don't actually belong to any Viking tribes in the Archipelago?"

"I don't think so," Hiccup answered honestly, nervously examining his bandaged arm. "I've lived in different places ever since I can remember, but I've never lived alongside other humans. We've just been travelling; that's the truth."

"We?"

"Toothless and me."

"Alright," Stoick sat down on one of the wooden chairs and stared at Hiccup in interest. "Maybe it's time we checked on that beast of yours?"


	5. Chapter 5

Hearing this, Hiccup immediately threw the bed cover off of him and then stood himself up, feeling a small pain from his stomach and ribs as he straightened himself up. Hiccup shakily walked over to Stoick, who placed a huge hand on Hiccup's shoulder and helped to lead the boy out of the house.

As the two walked over the wooden bridge that lead to Berk's "Killing Arena", Stoick stopped suddenly and stared Hiccup right in the eye. "Before we go inside, there's something you need to know."

"What is it?" Hiccup asked, blinking in confusion before looking longingly at the arena in the distance. He could feel Toothless! He could sense him and it made Hiccup want to dash off and see his dragon.

"We found the beast in the forest," Stoick explained gruffly, scowling a little. "It had crashed into a tree and was curled up with his wings covering his four legs."

Hiccup felt as if he knew where this was going and his heart began to thump fast with worry and concern for his beloved Night Fury. "W-What happened?" he stammered, "What happened to Toothless?"

"He was alright, just unconscious," Stoick reassured before continuing with his explanation. "When we pulled back his wings, we found you unharmed and unconscious. One of my men unhooked you from the dragon's grip while myself and a few other men inspected the dragon. There was no serious injury...until we found something that would affect the creature for life."

"What was it?" Hiccup asked, his voice pleading. "Please! Just tell me what happened to him!"

Stoick sighed. "We found that one of his tail-fins had been ripped to shreds. The torn bark from the tree that you both crashed in was the cause of this. With only one tail-fin, the Night Fury will never be able to fly again. A downed dragon, is a dead dragon."

* * *

Toothless was having an awful day. For starters, he had been shot from the sky and then woke to find that he had shackles around each of his four legs, which were all attached to chains that were drilled into the ground. He had managed to break the leather muzzle around his mouth hours ago, the pieces of leather were laid on the ground and ripped to shreds.

As soon as Toothless heard footsteps, his ears went back and he growled threateningly as Stoick stood in front of his cage, scowling back at the dragon. Toothless roared and pulled at one of the shackles, hissing before stopping completely when Stoick pulled Hiccup into view. Toothless' ears went up and he cooed in happiness at seeing his precious human. Unfortunately, he was tied down in chains which stopped him from walking closer to Hiccup. Instead, he stretched his head toward the boy and rumbled lovingly at him.

Hiccup reached through the metal bars of Toothless' cell and smoothed his smooth scales on his head gently. Toothless curled his tail around his four legs as he purred in content. Hiccup glanced down at the single tail-fin and felt total responsibility and guilt for not being able to realise sooner that they were being attacked. "I did this..." he stated sadly, pulling his hand away from the Night Fury who made a sad sound over his human doing so.

While studying Hiccup's movements after the boy looked at his tail, Toothless suddenly realised that Hiccup blamed himself for what had happened. Toothless didn't blame Hiccup at all! It was the other humans who were to blame; if they had just left the two of them alone, they wouldn't be trapped on this island.

"Now what?" Hiccup asked, looking up at the Berkian chief worriedly. "Please release Toothless from those chains! It's cruel to keep him like this!"

"I have to, just like I have to keep _you_ out of sight too," Stoick breathed in deeply. "The Berserkers will be arriving in Berk shortly. It's the annual peace treaty signing and if they see a dragon on Berk, there could be a possible war declaration."

"Berserkers?" Hiccup repeated, groaning out loud. "Perfect," he muttered darkly. "More insanity to deal with."

Stoick was confused but didn't question the boy. Instead, he lifted the latch of Toothless' cage, causing the door to open. He pushed Hiccup inside and shut the door again, walking out of the arena without another word.

Hiccup watched as the man left and as soon as he was out of sight, he smiled at Toothless, who in return, winked at him.

"STRIKE DRAGON ROAR!" was a loud scream that alerted almost the entire village of Berk. Stoick had just gotten to the blacksmith shop when he heard the yell. His face paled in realisation; the stories of humans being raised by dragons! Thor, how foolish he had been!


	6. Chapter 6

Before Hiccup could hop onto Toothless' back, several large waves of water washed over the pair, startling them. Toothless roared irritably as several figures emerged from the smoke of the explosion from Hiccup's magic.

They all looked around the same age as Hiccup and were all holding now-empty buckets; there were three boys: one with long blonde hair, one with dark hair and the other with short blonde hair which was hidden by his viking helmet. The other two figures were female, both blonde but one had a single thick braid and the other girl had three separate braids which were longer in length. The girl with the single braid stepped forward, throwing her bucket across the ground and pointing the blade of her axe toward Hiccup and Toothless. "Call the dragon off!" she ordered, her blue eyes staring piercingly at Hiccup. "It destroyed our training arena!"

"Ugh," Hiccup sighed irritably and looked over at the teenagers with an annoyed expression. "Toothless didn't do this, _I_ did it."

The teens were all silent for a few seconds before they all broke into hysterics, even the stern-looking axe-girl smiled at what Hiccup had said. "Right," the boy with the dark hair snorted with his eyebrows raised, "and I'm a troll"

"Are you?" asked the boy with the long blonde hair, blinking at the boy questionably.

"He looks like one," stated the female with the three braids. Hiccup looked at the two of them and noticed that they looked very similar. Siblings perhaps? What was the name for siblings born at the same time...? Twins! That was it. Hiccup smiled slightly as the twins and the other boy began to argue amongst themselves and turned to face the other two teens.

"Before this continues," the axe-girl lowered her blade and looked over her shoulder. "Snotlout, shut up. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, stop fighting and get over here and help us!"

"But Astrid; my angel," the boy, Snotlout, whined, smiling at her, "don't you want _my_ help?"

Astrid muttered darkly under her breath and then advanced toward Hiccup, clutching her axe tightly in her hand. Toothless growled, which caused Astrid to stop moving and keep still as she focused her attention on the Night Fury that curled around Hiccup protectively.

"Don't move another step," the boy who stood behind Astrid whispered. "Remember, we haven't seen dragons in years. This," he gestured to Toothless, "is a Night Fury; 'The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself'."

"I know what it is, Fishlegs," the girl replied, straightening up and putting one hand on her hip. Hiccup sensed something about this girl, she looked strong, fierce and beautiful, to say the least. He also sensed kindness and caring in those piercing eyes of hers, even if they were glowering at him. He knew of a story of an island where the locals had lost their magic powers, so perhaps, this island in the stories Toothless had told him was actually Berk itself?

* * *

Dagur stomped along the beach of the island which had just been deserted by the Night Fury. He growled angrily, pointing his sword tip at the captain and Vorg who both flinched away from him.

"I could have had it!" Dagur yelled, kicking one of the boulders in the sand as he made his way up of a rocky slop. He soon stopped in his tracks and squinted over at where Toothless and Hiccup had -up until now- resided at. Dagur sheathed his sword and walked over to the settlement in curiosity, stroking the long, thick pieces of bark which had been set to make a shelter. "This is man-made..." he murmured to himself, his eye catching something on the ground.

Vorg took a step back as Dagur whirled around to face him. "What did you find here?" the young chief demanded, clutching something in his hand tightly.

"Like w-we tried to say earlier, sir," Vorg gulped, finding it difficult to keep eye contact with Dagur, "there was a boy with the dragon."

"A boy..." Dagur smiled a little, his eyes flashing with devious intent, "Why was a boy here? This a deserted island."

"I don't know! The captain and I found him while searching for the Night Fury. He made a strange sound and then the dragon found us! It was very protective of the boy, sir."

The captain suddenly cleared his throat and spoke, "It's true, sir! We managed to trap the dragon but then the boy did something...not human."

"Not human?" Dagur raised his eyebrows and folded his arms, sighing. "Are you going to explain or just stand there stuttering like a fool?"

"Er...Anyway, the boy had this strange power; it was like he was a dragon himself! He breathed black and purple flames! Then the Night Fury and the boy escaped."

"Breathed fire..." Dagur whispered, he looked surprised. "Could that dragon have..."

"Sir?" the captain asked, looking concerned (and terrified) over his chief having a conversation with himself.

"You found a Dragon Slayer!" Dagur suddenly announced, loudly, excitement lighting up his eyes. He opened his hand up and stared at the small piece of metal, he had found, which had the name, 'Hiccup' carved into it. "I thought there were only kids stories about them..." Dagur raised his voice so that his men could all hear his orders. "We continue the search; that Night Fury raised a human and I intend to have the both of them under my control."


	7. Chapter 7

**Slayterxyz and DarkFrost; Thanks for reviewing guys! ^_^ :D**

* * *

Hiccup heard shouts in the distance and jumped onto Toothless' back. "Well it was nice being threatened and almost drowned by you guys," Hiccup called as Toothless began to run toward an opening. Astrid threw her axe at them but it slammed harmlessly into a wall and clanked to the ground as Toothless darted through the doorway. There were several villagers running toward Hiccup and Toothless, some were holding weapons which caused Toothless to rear and shoot three shots of flames before dashing toward the vast forest.

As soon as they got far enough for their comfort, Hiccup threw himself onto the soft, healthy-looking green grass and stared up at the trees that surrounded him. "I just don't get it," he murmured to himself, "why is everybody that we meet always against us?"

Toothless nudged Hiccup's arm and nuzzled into the boy as he lay down in the grass behind Hiccup, preparing for an afternoon nap. "We can't stay here," Hiccup decided, glancing over at Toothless' tail and sighing. "I'm sorry about this, Toothless."

Toothless glared at Hiccup and shook his head slightly. Hiccup didn't have to apologise! It was those humans who hurt them. Before Toothless could think more about the people they had encountered, he was stirred out of his thoughts when Hiccup stood up and began walking along a stone pathway.

Instinctively, Toothless followed the boy as he walked towards a collection of rocks with a small hole used for entry. Hiccup climbed through the hole while Toothless whined and scratched at the boulders, due to him being unable to fit through. He sniffed the air and climbed up the pile of boulders, intent on following his human.

"Amazing," Hiccup exclaimed, standing above a huge cove with an amazed-expression. Most of the ground of the cove was covered by a deep-looking lake and several trees that surrounded the area. The grass was a healthy, deep green colour and the scent of the fresh aroma of the area was comforting.

"Hey Toothless," Hiccup said, turning around and grinning, "I think we've found-" he stopped himself when he found that his dragon wasn't behind him. "Toothless?"

Hiccup walked outside of the cave and stood facing a collection of smaller boulders and several trees. Hiccup opened his mouth to call out to the dragon but was stopped when he heard a familiar roar and a huge crash. "Toothless?!" Hiccup called out in panic, hearing the roar that came in the direction of the cove. Hiccup ran back through the small opening and stood over the cove, unable to spot Toothless until a large, black shadow soared past him before crashing back into the ground beneath him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, staring down at the distressed dragon. Toothless screeched and began to try and climb the huge, steep boulders while flapping his wings to get out of the cove but ended up smacking the ground with every try. After about five-tries of him doing this,Toothless made a groaning sound and lay on the grass sadly, looking defeated which broke Hiccup's heart.

"It's alright, Toothless!" Hiccup called, clutching the rocks hard as his feet kept slipping as he climbed down. Said-dragon looked up in concern for his human as the boy stumbled down the rocky path.

Once Hiccup's feet touched the ground, he was tackled lovingly by his Night Fury, who wagged his tail as he snuggled into Hiccup. Hiccup sat up and allowed the dragon to lay down next to him with his head on his knees, purring softly as Hiccup scratched him behind his ears.

As Toothless began to drift off into a sleep, Hiccup sighed. "Looks like this will be our home for a while..." Hiccup glanced at Toothless' tail-fin. "We're going to have to do something about that. I promise that you'll fly again."


	8. Chapter 8

The evening came quickly for Berk, covering the island in a midnight-blue sheet of sky along with a gentle chilly breeze that circled around the beaches of the island. The five teens had just finished clearing up the arena and were walking over the wooden bridge to get home.

"That kid and his dragon earlier caused so much mess!" Ruffnut exclaimed, shoving Tuffnut as they walked together.

"I know," Tuffnut said louder with his fist in the air, "it was AWESOME!"

Astrid's brow twitched in annoyance over the twins but let it slide. She was focused on finding that boy and dragging him back to the village to Stoick, who had done his fair-share of bellowing when he'd seen the state of the arena. "Hey, Fishlegs," she murmured, turning to the boy who blinked at her. "What does the Book of Dragons say about the Night Fury species?"

"The Book of Dragons?" Fishlegs said, chuckling a little. "Nobody has read that book ever since the dragons disappeared," he looked at Astrid seriously and then answered her question. "The book doesn't have any real facts on the Night Fury, except that if a Viking ever encounters a Night Fury to 'Hide and pray it does not find you" which gives off a pretty huge danger-level if you ask me."

"Hmm..." Astrid looked up at the moon while thinking about this. "That dragon couldn't fly. Stoick said that they'd still be on the island. My bet is that they're hiding in the forest where it's dark and easy for that dragon to hide itself. I say we go looking for them."

"Then what?" Fishlegs stopped walking and stared at her. "Risk getting eaten by a Night Fury?! We're all fussing over a dragon when it's clearly that kid that we should be worrying about, Astrid!"

Snotlout laughed obnoxiously and folded his arms, smirking at Fishlegs. "Oh please," he said smugly, "that kid didn't do anything but order that stupid dragon to run away."

"You seem to forget that there are no other dragons that have been sighted in the Viking border!" Fishlegs responded angrily. "Those legends are looking to be true! It seems way too coincidental, Snotlout. That kid has been living with that dragon for years-"

"Which means that he's a Dragon Slayer," Astrid cut Fishlegs off, finishing the last bit for him and scowling at the rest of the group. "We all know those stories of a dragon raising a human and teaching these humans the secrets of the dragon species! That boy knows the secrets and the powers of the dragon and can use these gifts!"

"It's a story, Astrid," Snotlout shrugged, leaning closer to her. "I never thought you'd be into all that supernatural stuff, I like that-" he was cut short as Astrid punched him in the stomach and then turned her back on him, flicking her braid back as she walked way from the group.

"Looks like I'll be on my own with this one," she muttered, glaring over her shoulder at the rest of the teens who were either fighting each other or trying to help Snotlout up, no prizes for which teen was doing what.

Before she could head toward the forest, she almost bumped into the village blacksmith who was called Gobber who was known for his cheerful personality and had a long, blonde mustache braided down past his shoulders. He was a close friend of Stoick, which made it easy to find out where Stoick was if Gobber wasn't at the forge.

Sure enough, as she got closer, she saw Stoick walking out of the door and quickly ran toward him.

"Astrid! Is the arena finally clear of all of the loose rocks and metal?" Stoick asked as he saw the girl running near him.

"It is, sir," Astrid replied, nodding up at the man in respect. Before he could turn to leave, she spoke up, "Sir, may I ask you something?"

"What does it involve?" Stoick questioned, knowing Astrid's warrior-nature all too well from past events of trying to go after a Flightmare with an axe when she was a little girl.

"It involves finding the boy that invaded us, chief. I would like permission to search the forest-"

"No," Stoick answered, interrupting Astrid from her request. He felt a little bad when he saw disappointment flash in her eyes but he dismissed it and put a large hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to help, Astrid," Stoick sighed, looking at her in the eyes, "but this will have to wait until morning. I'll send out small search parties to find the boy before the Berserker tribe arrive. I'll send you with a group that's heading out to the deeper depths of the forest tomorrow morning. Be at the forge early to leave with them."

"Yes, sir!" Astrid smiled and then turned on her heel and headed home. She had been waiting for this! She was determined to prove that the stories her family had told her as a child were true and she wasn't going to let anything stand in her way to do so.


	9. Chapter 9

Astrid awoke early, the dark, cloudy morning sky looked inviting as she looked out of her small bedroom window. A thick layer of fog had covered the entire island of Berk which Astrid knew that there would be a possibility it would rain later on in the day.

She quickly put on her metal shoulder armour, shoving her boots and grabbing her axe before rushing out of the house, slamming the door behind her. The grass was damp with morning dew as she trudged toward the opening of the forest, keeping a tight grip on her weapon as she saw the other Vikings and ran over to join them.

"We were about to set off, Astrid," Gobber whispered as she walked over to the large group who were being given orders by their chief. "You got lucky, lass."

"Yeah," Astrid agreed, listening to Stoick as he began placing the villagers into different groups. Her heart began to pound with excitement as Stoick gestured to her small group and ordered them to search deeper into the forest. Before her group could set off, she heard an all-too-familiar voice.

"Sorry we're late, Stoick!" a voice called. A viking shoved forward and smirked up at the chief before turning around and irritably shouting, "Get over here, Snotlout!"

"Spitelout?" Stoick scowled down at the man before rubbing his forehead and sighing. "Go with the last group over there as the others have already left."

Astrid's group. She felt like screaming in rage. Why did she have to get stuck with Snotlout?! Sure enough, said-boy noticed her and immediately walked over, leaning forward and invading her personal space. She clenched her free hand into a fist and pulled away from him, making a disgusted sound with her mouth. "Why are you here?" she demanded quietly, glaring at Snotlout.

"My Dad wanted me to come along and hunt that kid," Snotlout answered truthfully, shrugging his shoulders, "so why are you here?"

"You know that answer already, so don't bother asking," she snapped, suddenly pointing her axe toward his neck, "anymore questions?"

Snotlout made an odd sound which Astrid took as a "No" and lowered her axe. She smiled smugly at him and began to follow the group as they departed and headed into the forest. "Let's go find out the truth."

* * *

Toothless' ears perked up, his eyes dilating into slits as he heard a loud noise coming toward him. He growled and crouched to the ground, ready to attack-

Hiccup threw himself into Toothless' stomach. The dragon made a low gurgling sound and then made his body drop back on to the ground. He began making a dragon-like laughing noise as Hiccup wasn't able to keep a grip on his smoothly scaled stomach and slipped down onto the grass.

"Not fair! You're all slippery!" Hiccup moaned, nudging Toothless gently with his elbow. Toothless grunted and rolled his eyes, as if to say; Deal-with-it and then closed his eyes to go back to his nap.

Hiccup sighed and brought his knees up to his chest, resting his head against one of Toothless' legs and staring toward the lake.

* * *

Astrid crouched in the small cave, watching Hiccup carefully as he stared at the lake below. Snotlout shuffled toward her, opening his mouth to say something but was immediately stopped when Astrid shoved her axe toward his face, a threat for him to be quiet.

He closed his mouth and glanced over her shoulder, "Astrid," he whispered, "the others are going to climb to the top of the cove as they couldn't get in here."

"That's fine," she replied, keeping her eyes on the Night Fury and the boy next to him. It hadn't taken their group long to find the hideout, they found faded footprints of a dragon in the grass bank as they got closer to the cove. "I'm going down," she announced in a whisper. Before Snotlout could stop her, she quickly began to climb down the boulders.

Toothless perked up his ears once again and turned his head, immediately recognising the girl who threatened Hiccup with her axe. The same axe, he noted, that she was holding in her hand now. He growled in warning to her, watching her every move as she began to slowly walk closer.

As soon as Astrid stepped too close to them, Toothless roared angrily and reared, charging at her with his teeth bared, ready to kill her. She froze in fright as the beast bounded toward her but as the dragon got closer, she felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and swung her axe, ready to kill the Night Fury. Before the axe could even touch Toothless, a green blur ran forward and pushed her to the ground.

The boy shoved her axe away as he stood up and quickly stood in front of her with his arms raised up at the dragon. Toothless screeched and roared, spreading his wings out furiously as Hiccup tried to calm him. "Easy, Toothless," Hiccup murmured, keeping his eyes focused on his precious dragon. "It's alright, calm down."

Toothless crouched to the ground and stuck his head under Hiccup's arm, growling and hissing at Astrid. "You just scared him," he explained, breathing out in relief that she wasn't hurt.

Astrid stiffened as she stood up. "_I_ scared _him_?" she repeated, as if questioning herself on what the boy had just said to her. Before Astrid could say anything else, several shouts were heard causing all three to look up at the group of vikings who were stood at the top of the cove. "Snotlout..." she whispered, realising he must have called up to the others when she climbed into the cove.

Toothless hissed at them, nudging Hiccup and began to gently push him away from Astrid. He didn't care about the other humans, he was just concerned on protecting his human hatchling. He started suddenly as Hiccup suddenly yelped, "Toothless, watch-" but was cut off as a bola wrapped around Toothless' front two legs, causing him to stumble and hit the ground.

Astrid quickly made her move, shoving into the boy and pulling him away from the dragon. "What are you doing?" he yelled angrily, trying to push her away.

"My duty," she answered strictly, easily shrugging off his weak pushes and pulling him toward the entrance. Toothless roared at the vikings above him, thrashing around and pulling at the bola as it began to slowly break from his strength. He suddenly noticed Hiccup being dragged into the entrance and screeched, breaking the ropes around his legs easily and running after them.

Before Toothless could get to the rocks in order to climb them, several spears impaled the ground in front of him. He had no choice, he had to get rid of these humans before going after Hiccup. He shot a large, purple blast of fire straight towards the centre of the group, which caused part of the top to crumble into the cove.

Snotlout helped Astrid pull the boy away from the cave. Hiccup could only watch as Toothless' image slowly began to fade as he was pulled away from him once again. "No, don't do this!" Hiccup begged, his voice getting further and further away as the vikings took him away. "Don't leave him alone here, he needs me!"


	10. Chapter 10

"We'll be arriving at Berk very soon, Dagur," one of the Berserker vikings said to his chief, who was leaning against the ship mast while polishing his sword.

"How long, exactly?" Dagur replied, continuing to scrub the sharp blade with a rag. "From the looks of the rock formations, I'd say an hour at best. Get the soldiers ready for the arrival."

Dagur walked to the back of the ship and smiled, noticing another ship sailing toward them. The sails displayed an image of a face-outline, the Outcast Tribe symbol. "We'll dock behind these large rocks," Dagur ordered, watching as the Outcast ship grew closer to his ship. "I have requested an audience with a fellow chief."

As soon as Dagur said these words, the chief of the Outcast tribe came into view. He had a long, thick coal-black beard and bright blue eyes. He wore spiked shoulder armour and he wore a threatening expression on his face. This was Alvin the Treacherous, a Viking who was banished from Berk for constantly disobeying the orders of the chief. He saw Dagur and his eyebrows knotted, glaring at the younger chief as the two ships met.

* * *

Hiccup glared angrily at Snotlout and Astrid, who were pulling him away, no doubt back to the village. He wanted to use his power on them so badly, but knew he'd never have the nerve or heart to harm them. Even though they had chained Toothless, threatened them both and now separated them again; these people had never actually physically hurt either of them.

"You don't have to pull me along," Hiccup grumbled at the two, "I can walk just fine."

"Maybe so, but if we let go, you'd run back to that beast," Snotlout replied, keeping his eyes forward.

"I'm not going to run off," Hiccup answered truthfully. "As long as you guarantee Toothless' safety."

"We don't want to hurt you...Er..." Astrid coughed awkwardly and glanced at Snotlout. She turned to Hiccup and bit her lip. "What's your name...you know, if you have one..."

Hiccup scowled and pulled his arm away from Astrid's grip. "Of course I have a name!" he replied, feeling offended.

"So...what is it?" Snotlout asked, turning around and looking interested. Both him and Astrid gasped loudly when the boy answered.

"My name's Hiccup," he stated, looking at them both. He chuckled awkwardly, "Great name, I know. But, it's not the worst."

* * *

"Dragon Slayer?" Alvin sat back on his throne and slammed his empty wooden mug on the right arm. "No such thing."

Dagur and five of his Berserker soldiers were seated in Alvin's personal cabin on the ship. Dagur was here to talk business, unfortunately, the chief would need convincing.

"Oh, but there is, Alvin," Dagur replied, "and he's a mere child. His name is Hiccup and he's been raised by a Night Fury for ten years."

"Ten years? Same name as Stoick and Valka's child that disappeared ten years..." Alvin's voice got quieter with every word he spoke. A sudden malicious grin spread over his face. "Oh...I see..."

_We're finally getting somewhere,_ Dagur thought, rolling his eyes quickly so that Alvin wouldn't notice. Before Dagur could speak up, it was Alvin who spoke first.

"What's in it for me?"

"The alliance of our tribes and to share the catch," Dagur answered truthfully. "I have to be at Berk at some point this evening, so if we find any signs of the Night Fury or the boy on the island, I'll signal you by lighting a fire."

"Seems straight forward enough," Alvin shrugged, extending his hand which Dagur shook, making it a done deal. "We'll stand beside the Berserkers from here on."


	11. Chapter 11

Hiccup was shoved roughly through the front door of Stoick's house. Gobber followed the boy inside and closed the door, standing in front of it as a guard.

"Where's Stoick?" Hiccup asked angrily. "Why is everybody keeping Toothless away from me? What did we do to any of you?"

"You've done nothing, lad," Gobber replied, sighing. "The chief just wants to know about you. Dragons have been missing for so long and then, all of a sudden, a Night Fury is spotted flying over the island where we then find a human boy riding him."

"So the vikings shoot him down? Seems justified," Hiccup snapped sarcastically, his anger rising. "He can't fly because of those people!"

"The dragon is in no danger, neither are you..." Gobber's voice trailed off as he was faced with the same dilema which had occured during Hiccup's talk with Astrid and Snotlout. Hiccup knew right away and sighed heavily, folding his arms.

"Hiccup," he stated, scowling.

"Eh?" Gobber blinked at the boy in confusion, causing Hiccup to sigh again.

"My name," he explained, looking at the man. "I'm called Hiccup."

"H-Hic...Hiccup..." Gobber stared wide-eyed at the boy, the same thoughts in his head. "Why are you..."

"You're acting just like those other two!" Hiccup groaned. "Seriously! Why does everybody freak out over a name?! I mean, come _on_!" Hiccup continued his outburst as Gobber stared at the boy. "Just because I've lived with a dragon for ten years doesn't mean I don't have a name! Besides, Toothless didn't even give me that name, it was the humans who did that!"

"Stoick's only son was taken from Berk ten years ago," Gobber said, his voice quiet and soft as he looked at the boy. "He was five years old when a dragon snatched him from his mother," he continued as Hiccup stared back at him, feeling nervous. "Her name was Valka."

Hiccup breathed in deeply, after hearing the name of his mother. His heart began to race as Gobber continued what he was saying.

"That boy..." Gobber felt a lump in his throat. "He was called Hiccup too...Astrid told me that you said your mother's name was Valka, as was the missing heir. Are you...Are you that little boy?"

Hiccup felt as if he had been hit in the stomach. He swallowed and backed away from Gobber cautiously. He had to get off of this island, he didn't want to be here anymore!

"Listen," Hiccup croaked, bitterly wishing he had the strength to shove the man out of the way to make a run for it. "You've got it wrong, I'm _not_ a Viking. I'm the son of a dragon."

* * *

"The son...of a dragon," a familiar voice whispered from behind Hiccup. The boy turned around as Stoick closed the back door of the house and kept his eyes on Hiccup. He walked forward slowly, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders and looking him right in the eye. "Your mother was called Valka?" his voice sounded thick as he spoke, his hands trembled. "I had a strange feeling about you when I brought you back here. My son would have been about your age...You are my Hiccup, aren't you?"

Before Hiccup could even respond to this, Stoick's eyes suddenly filled with anger. "Valka always told me that a dragon had snatched you. She never told me what species it was. I think I know," he spat. "That Night Fury took my son!"

Hiccup felt as if there was a lump in his throat, he couldn't breathe and his heart was racing. "Toothless...took..." he stuttered, backing up against the wall. "You're wrong," he croaked weakly, biting his lip. "Toothless would never do that!"

Stoick ripped one of the axes off of the wall and then turned to face Hiccup, who shrunk against himself as he saw the axe. Stoick's eyes suddenly filled with sadness as he saw the boy cowering and lowered his axe. "This isn't for you," Stoick whispered gently, "it's for that dragon in the forest."

That was enough to snap Hiccup out of his worries. He quickly ran forward and grabbed the handle of the axe and tugged it toward him. Stoick kept an iron-like grip on the handle as Hiccup tried to take it from him. "Don't hurt Toothless," Hiccup said calmly, despite the furious glare he gave Stoick. "Don't you dare touch him!"

Stoick's eyes twitched with anger at Hiccup. Why didn't the boy get it? Dragons were the reason why he had lost his family! Now he had found his lost son and for some reason, he was trying to defend the beast that took him away!

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Stoick spat, pushing Hiccup away and storming out of the house. Before he closed the door, he looked at Gobber, "Make sure he stays here," he ordered before slamming the front door shut.

"Don't you hurt him!" Hiccup ran forward but was caught by Gobber, who grabbed him around his stomach and stopped him from running out of the door. Hiccup began struggling, fighting against the man angrily. "Leave him alone! Leave my dragon alone!"


	12. Chapter 12

Stoick stood over the cove, watching the dragon prowl around, slamming its body into the boulders at full force. He kept his grip on his axe as he began to slowly climb down the rocky ledges toward Toothless.

The dragon looked up, his eyes twitched with anger as he roared furiously up at the man who had taken his Hiccup away again. He watched as Stoick climbed down, waiting for the viking chief to get on the ground so that Toothless could unleash his fury on him. If this man -or any of the humans on this island for that matter- had harmed Hiccup in anyway, Toothless would prove how dangerous an angry dragon was and what destruction he could cause.

"It's time, beast," Stoick growled, jumping off of the rocky ledge and landing on the ground loudly. He held out his axe, pointing the blade at Toothless. "I'll _never_ let you near Hiccup again!"

Toothless' eyes widened, his pupils dilated into thin slits as Stoick growled out that last sentence. Toothless dug his claws into the grass beneath him, his protective instincts were going crazy as Stoick's words danced around his mind. Toothless stared hard at the chief in utter loathing as he began to charge up to blast fire at Stoick; he'd have fun hurting this man.

* * *

Hiccup raced through the forest, the teens and Gobber following behind him. He could see flashes of light in the distance, no doubt Toothless shooting fire at something...or someone. Hiccup continued to run, focused on stopping Stoick and Toothless from killing each other. "Toothless!" Hiccup yelled as loud as he could. "Toothless! I'm coming!"

_"Toothless! I'm coming!"_ was the call that snapped Toothless out of his defensive-situation. Ignoring the viking that was panting close to him who had dodged six of his fireblasts, he turned his head and made a cooing sound toward the direction of the call.

As soon as Toothless saw a familiar boy, his gaze softened and his ears perked up high. Stoick watched as Hiccup began to climb down the rocky boulders of the cove, making both him and the Night Fury watch in concern and worry as Hiccup slipped a few times as he climbed.

Before Hiccup got to the bottom, Stoick charged at Toothless, taking the dragon by surprise as he was knocked to the ground by the strength of the chief. Toothless growled threateningly, knowing that he had used up his number of shots. Before either of them could do anything, Hiccup yelled out and a huge blast of purple and black fire surrounded the air above the three of them.

Gobber and the teens watched from the top of the cove, staring down at Hiccup with amazed expressions. Astrid leant forward, surprised as Stoick lowered his axe and threw it to the ground as he stared at Hiccup. She noted that the Night Fury had also stopped behaving aggressively and simply padded over to the boy and nuzzled him affectionately.

"It's unbelievable," Gobber whispered, watching the dragon treat Hiccup as if he were still a baby. "I've never seen an interaction as such from a dragon to a human."

"Especially a parental-based one," Fishlegs added, watching with equal-astonishment as the blacksmith. "What is the full story with those two, anyway, guys?"

* * *

"Stop this now," Hiccup said, calmly but kept a strict tone of voice as he looked over at Stoick. "You don't have to fight each other..." he looked at Stoick's face, which had been sliced by Toothless' claw and had a thin line of blood dripping down his chin. "You're bleeding..." Hiccup murmured, walking up to Stoick cautiously and placed his hand on Stoick's face, keeping total eye contact with the Berkian chief. As soon as Stoick saw the boy smile up at him kindly, he couldn't stop himself from letting his eyes brim over with emotional tears.

"Hiccup..." Stoick whispered, placing his hands on Hiccup's shoulders and pulling him into a hug. As soon as Hiccup touched the man, he immediately felt a sudden urge to snuggle into him, feeling safe and protected, which surprised him greatly.

Before anybody could do or say anything, the sound of a horn being blown in the distance caused everybody to look up. Toothless screeched and paced around as Hiccup gritted his teeth as he looked up at the treetops.

"The Berserkers..." He muttered bitterly, his gaze falling on Toothless who had become agitated once again. Stoick glanced at Hiccup worriedly, if Hiccup knew the Berserker tribe then their relationship was most-probably not a good one, judging on Hiccup's body language and how the beast was behaving.

"Thor..." Stoick mumbled, scowling up at the sky. "This should be interesting..."


	13. Chapter 13

The Berserker armada docked just on the horizon so that Dagur's lead ship and three others that docked with them could see the rest of the armada from the island of Berk. Dagur stepped onto the plank and casually walked down onto the wooden docks, holding one of his swords in his hand. Stoick and Gobber walked toward him, both surprised at the sight of Dagur.

"Dagur?" Stoick blinked, looking at Gobber. "Where's your father? Where's Oswald?"

"My father..." Dagur smiled cruelly, his eyes glinted from the shine of his polished sword. "Retired," he continued, smirking. "He lost his taste for blood...So," he suddenly smiled curiously. "Where is it, Stoick?"

"Where is what, Dagur?" Stoick replied innocently, folding his arms as he spoke to the teenage boy, who in return, growled and rolled his eyes in frustration.

_Do I look stupid to you?_

* * *

Meanwhile, Astrid lead Hiccup toward Gobber's smithy stealthily. "You need to stay put, Hiccup," she whispered urgently, turning her head in the direction of the shipping docks. "I'm begging you, stay here."

"I won't move, I promise you, Astrid," Hiccup replied truthfully. "I can't risk anything with the Berserkers here. If they see Toothless, it's over for him."

"I understand," Astrid smiled kindly at him and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we won't let Dagur get to you or Toothless."

Before Hiccup could reply, she ran off in the direction of the platforms which lead to the docking point of the island. "Astrid..." Hiccup watched as she ran, holding her axe as if she were going into battle. "Thank you..." he whispered, looking toward the sun and sighing.

* * *

"So what's going on?" Astrid called, her voice faltering as she saw the Berkian teens looking back at her worriedly. She soon discovered why; Dagur was with them and when he saw her, he grunted and turned away.

"Shouldn't you all be elsewhere?" Dagur said irritably.

"Shouldn't you be with Stoick?" Astrid snapped back, putting her hand on the handle of her axe which she had tucked into her belt.

"Hmm," Dagur looked at Astrid as if in deep thought before chuckling. "So, girl. Where have you been while your buddies have been here?"

Astrid raised her eyebrows up at Dagur's comment and calmly folded her arms. "I don't have to tell you anything," she replied casually, not bothering to use a respectful tone of voice. "The last time I checked, what I do on my home island isn't your concern. Besides, you're just a visitor, not my Chief."

"Hey...Astrid..." Snotlout hissed, flinching when he heard Dagur growl angrily under his breath. He knew Astrid's stubbornness very well and knew that she had no respect for people like Dagur.

* * *

"Hey," a voice grunted, causing Hiccup to turn around, startled. He gasped when he saw a soldier wearing traditional Berserker armour, backing away when he recognised the face of the Viking. The Berserker captain smiled through his helmet and walked through the gate of the smithy. "I thought I recognised you...Hiccup."

Hiccup's eyes widened at the captain knowing his name, which the Berserker noticed. He tried to slip past the soldier but instead got his wrist grabbed tightly, causing him to squeak in pain. "Don't do anything stupid," the captain hissed. "You're coming with me."

"Let go of me," Hiccup hissed, yanking his arm free of the soldier's grip. "If Stoick sees you dragging me away; he will follow and he most-certainly will not be so welcoming to your lunatic kid of a Chief."

"Don't you dare disrespect Dagur," the soldier growled, reaching for his sword. "You're lucky that Dagur wants you alive. If not, well," he glanced down at his sword and smiled smugly. "I suppose you know the rest."

Hiccup took a small step backward as the soldier leaned forward to his eye level, that smug smile still plastered over his face. "Soon Dagur will have that Night Fury and once it has fulfilled Dagur's wishes, you and the beast will die."

"Just tell me one thing," Hiccup looked the soldier right in the eye as he spoke clearly, keeping his tone calm even though a wave of different emotions swept over him. "I want to know why Dagur is so desperate on taking Toothless."


	14. Chapter 14

The Berkserker smirked at Hiccup's request and leaned forward to Hiccup's eye level. Even though the soldier was invading his personal space, Hiccup stood his ground and watched the Berserker very carefully as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Very well. All I know is that Dagur strongly believes that there are more dragons out there and to find the dragon he desires, he really thinks that the Night Fury can lead him to our target."

"That target would be?" Hiccup questioned, trying to think of a reason to why Dagur, a Viking who loved to slay dragons, would be searching for one in particular.

"Isn't obvious child?" the soldier spat, gesturing to the symbol on his shoulder plate. "The Skrill."

Realisation hit Hiccup like a ton of bricks. Dagur with a Skrill. That was a dangerous combination..."The Skrill is naturally defensive, it's impossible to tame."

"Maybe so, but Dagur has other ways of controlling the beast," the soldier said this with such a nasty glee that it made Hiccup start to get angry.

"How so?" Hiccup growled. "_Hurting it_? Is that what your leader would do to command a dragon? Then what? What would happen to my dragon then?"

"Dagur said you were smart," the soldier huffed. "He won't have any need for the Night Fury after that so he'll get rid of it."

"Get rid of it," Hiccup repeated quietly, struggling to keep his temper. "I take it that means he'd kill my dragon."

"Exactly," the soldier laughed mockingly at the boy. "Then what would you do after that?"

"Do you want to find out?" Hiccup asked, smiling slyly up at the soldier. His happy tone startled the soldier a little as he was expecting the boy to get angry or beg for them to leave his dragon alone.

Before the Berserker could respond both him and Hiccup heard the sound of a group coming toward the forge. Not wanting to be seen, the Berserker looked at Hiccup and hissed, "This isn't over," to him before rushing outside and back into the village.

Hiccup breathed out in relief and sat down on one of the wooden tables. Now that he knew what Dagur's plan was, he could use this advantage to keep Toothless safe. He stared at Gobber's equipment and knew what he had to do. Without pausing, he grabbed a sheet of paper and began to draw a design of a device which looked like a tail-fin in charcoal pencil.

"Don't worry Toothless," Hiccup muttered, looking down at his sheet of paper and frowning. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Stoick motioned for Gobber and a small group of Berkian Vikings to lead Dagur and his Berserker soldiers into the Mead Hall.

"Where are you going?" Gobber questioned, watching as the chief set off down the steps. Dagur turned and smirked down at the chief and the blacksmith, watching as Stoick whispered something to the other and then walked off in the direction of the village's forge. Dagur quickly glanced at one of his soldiers, the one who had threatened Hiccup in Gobber's forge not-too-long ago. The soldier nodded quickly and then followed his chief into the Hall.

The Berkian chief reached Gobber's forge and saw the boy sat on a large wooden table with several materials surrounding him as he studied a drawing on a piece of paper. Stoick walked into the forge and made his presence known by coughing loudly, causing the boy to jump up, startled.

"Easy...It's alright...Hiccup," Stoick's voice was calm but as he said the boy's name, his voice cracked a little. "I just came over to see what you were up to."

Hiccup relaxed his shoulders and thrust the design of the tail-fin up to Stoick's eye level. "What do you think of this?" Hiccup asked excitedly, grinning up at the man. "I'm going to make it so that Toothless can fly again!"

"I see..." Stoick looked at the complicated scribbles on the page and then turned back to Hiccup. "How...creative."

"You think so?" Hiccup lowered the paper and set it back on the table. He looked at Stoick in confusion, expecting the man to be happy that he'd found a way to save Toothless but Stoick...didn't look happy at all; in fact, Hiccup saw sadness in the chief's eyes. "What's the matter?"

Stoick shook himself out of his thoughts and blinked at Hiccup. "Nothing," he lied. "Everything is fine. So, will it work?"

"I hope so," Hiccup looked down at the design and sighed, stroking the charcoal smudges carefully. "I hate leaving Toothless alone in the forest. He's never been away from me for an entire night before, we always sleep together under the moon."

"He's a _dragon_. I'm sure he'll survive for a night," Stoick's tone was a lot sharper than he had intended it to be. Hiccup blinked at the stern-face of the chief and smiled up at him.

"You're right," Hiccup stated, folding the design into a small little square and organising the tools and materials on the table. "He'll be safe in the cove. So," Hiccup looked out of the window gaps of the forge. "How's Dagur?"

"Currently trying to cause a commotion in the village," Stoick grumbled, massaging his head. "I've sent Gobber off to lead him to the Mead Hall."

"That's good," Hiccup chuckled. He suddenly thought about what the Berserker captain had said to him earlier and turned to Stoick who was about to leave the forge. "Listen, St-" a lump formed in Hiccup's throat as he was about to say the chief's name. "I-I mean..._Ugh_!" Hiccup threw up his arms in frustration, not knowing what to call Stoick, which the chief noticed and felt discreetly hurt by this.

Stoick placed his hands on Hiccup's shoulders and looked the boy straight in the eye. "Father," he said softly. "I understand that this is happening fast, Hiccup but you're my _son_. I don't want to lose you ever again and yet you're planning on saving that beast and then flying away. I-I can't allow that."


	15. Chapter 15

"Ugh. Bored," Dagur whined, slouching in one of the wooden chairs inside of the Mead Hall. He glanced over in the direction of footsteps and saw one of the captains of his armada stepping forward to him.

"Lord Dagur," the captain bowed his head in respect before continuing. "I found the boy. He was in the village forge."

"The forge?" Dagur narrowed his eyes at Gobber, who was in the distance joking with two other Berkian vikings. Dagur pushed himself out of the chair and smiled crookedly as he moved toward the doors and silently slipping out of them along with two other Berserker vikings.

He moved stealthily around the houses of the village until they got to the armoury where there was a clear sight of the forge in front of them. Dagur smiled as he saw Hiccup alone inside and building a fan-like object out of thin metal. He turned to his two men and signaled for them to follow him into the forge, which they obeyed.

As soon as Dagur went to grab the boy from behind his back, Hiccup swirled around on his seat, clutching a small knife and glaring up at them. Dagur unsheathed his sword and advanced on the smaller boy while the two Berserkers behind held their weapons tightly, ready to fight if Hiccup tried anything.

"It looks like you've lost this one," Dagur stated as Hiccup backed away. Before Dagur or the other two soldiers could move, Hiccup suddenly threw the knife in Dagur's direction and fled outside.

Screams of "_Follow him you morons_!" could be heard from behind him as Hiccup picked up the pace as he sprinted through the village. Although he knew it was cowardly, he had no choice and began to yell, "Stoick! Stoick! Chief!"

As Stoick made his way up the stone stairs of the Mead Hall, he was stopped as he heard cries of "Stoick! Chief!" down in the village. He raced down the steps as fast as he could, immediately recognising the voice. His eyes widened as he saw Dagur and two armed Berserkers chasing Hiccup.

"No!" Stoick exclaimed as he saw Hiccup trip over his own feet and then Dagur standing over him with his sword near his face. "**NO**!"

Hiccup held up his hands as Dagur lifted the sword. He turned away and finally cried out one more time; "Chief! Chief!" the lump in his throat returned but he forced himself to scream as loud as he possibly could. "_**DAD**_!"

"Hiccup!" Stoick leapt into the village and held his own sword out in Dagur's direction. The two Berserkers prepared themselves in case Stoick rushed at Dagur. "I'm only going to say this _once_, Dagur," the chief growled threateningly. "Get away from my son."

Before Dagur could move, several war cries were yelled as Astrid and the other teens ran forward and fended off the two Berserker soldiers. Hiccup kept completely still as Dagur growled angrily and backed away from the boy. Astrid fought against the bigger of the two soldiers with her axe, leaping out of the way as he brought down his sword where she once had bee stood. She dived to the ground and put all of her force into her legs to deliver a strong kick that sent the viking flying to the ground, lying a small distance from Dagur's feet.

Before Stoick could move toward him, Dagur quickly grabbed Astrid, who was now stood over the soldier that had landed beside Dagur, by the wrist which pulled her forward and allowed him to hold his sword to her throat. "Hand over the Night Fury and the Dragon Slayer to me and I'll release the girl. If not..." Dagur warned, pushing the blade into Astrid's neck harder, causing her to grit her teeth, all Dagur had to do was pull his sword back and she'd be dead, it was hard not to feel afraid.

Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who in return stared back at him, her face emotionless. "I'm sorry," he whispered, lowering his gaze and ducking his head which made him look defeated. Before anybody could move, the familiar symbol appeared above Hiccup and flames covered his two hands. If looks could kill, Dagur would have been dead as Hiccup stared him down, willing all of his energy into the flames. Hiccup quickly darted towards Dagur, throwing his arms behind him as he leaped into the air, "_**Wings of the Strike Dragon**_!" Hiccup screamed, suddenly pushing his arms forward and causing a tornado of black and purple flames to hit Dagur, who threw Astrid to the ground and ran for cover.

Hiccup struggled to keep standing after attacking Dagur with his magic. He mentally kicked himself as he felt his legs give in and his eyes get heavy with fatigue.

"Hiccup!" Astrid picked herself up and ran to the now unconscious boy lying on the ground. She quickly supported his head on her knees and watched as Dagur and his two men slowly backed away as Stoick stood in front of the two teenagers.

"Get off of my island," he ordered threateningly, looking as if he wanted to kill Dagur with his own two hands. In response, Dagur sniffed and turned his back on the Berkians. Before he walked toward his ship, he looked at Hiccup one last time and then smirked before turning away and heading back to the docking port.

Toothless darted through the trees and peered down at the village below him from the bank. He had sensed Dagur ages ago but it had taken all of his strength to escape from that stupid cove. From the looks of it, however, it seemed that Hiccup was safe and Dagur was _leaving?_

The Night Fury was about to rush over to check over his precious human but he stopped himself when he watched as the older, stern-looking viking chief helped Hiccup up and pulled him into an awkward hug. Toothless growled a little from his throat but felt a small stab of sadness when he saw Hiccup hug the man back. He cooed sadly, drooping his ears as he watched them. Feeling that Hiccup no longer needed him, Toothless turned around and headed away from the village slowly with his head hung in sorrow.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you to everybody who has favourited, followed and reviewed this story! It means a lot :) :D *giant hugs to everyone* **

The Berserkers were gone and Hiccup had spent the night back at Stoi- his Dad's house. The next morning was cold and the green grass were painted white with frost which crunched under his feet as he walked toward the forge, intending on finishing the tail-fin by afternoon for Toothless.

He began to piece the metal and fabric together, folding it back and then unfolding it once more to check that it functioned correctly. Being so focused in his project, he jumped loudly at the sound of a wooden plate with bread on it dropped on his work side. He looked up and saw Astrid stood beside him, her left hand on her hip and a small bandage on her wrist. She smiled at him as he glanced at the thin scratch on her neck and her bandaged wound.

"It's only fun if you get a scar out of it, right?" she grinned, leaning against the table.

"Oh yeah," Hiccup replied sarcastically. "Pain; _love it_."

Astrid pushed her fringe out of her eyes and watched with interest as Hiccup continued to work at the tailfin. "Listen, Hiccup," she murmured, dropping her gaze as Hiccup stared at her. "I...I'm sorry about..."

"It's alright, Astrid," Hiccup smiled at her, understanding what she was trying to say. "You don't have to apologise, I guess that I..." his voice faltered a little but he continued. "I guess that I allowed myself to forget the memories of Berk and my family."

"Do you remember anything about us?" Astrid asked in curiosity.

"Only my mother," Hiccup replied truthfully. He looked away, feeling guilty over the fact of not remembering anything about his father. "But that's only a small memory; When I was little, she would tell me stories at bedtime."

"I see," Astrid put her hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, be easy on the chief. I know you've been through a lot but Stoick's going through the same stress too. You had a life with Toothless, yes, but he lost his entire family so be understanding that he doesn't want to lose his only child so quickly."

"I know," Hiccup murmured, fidgeting in his chair. "You're right about the life with Toothless. I can't keep him trapped on this island, he needs me just as much as _I_ need _him_; he's important to me."

"But he took you away from your family when you were a child!"

"I know that," Hiccup understood Astrid's confusion but she didn't understand what _he_ was trying to say. "But he raised me. He kept me safe and cared for me, Astrid. Toothless is just as much as my family as Stoick is."

Astrid was speechless as Hiccup stood up and walked straight past her, clutching the artificial tailfin in both hands. As she moved to follow him, she looked back at the paper design on the work table one last time before running after Hiccup.

Hiccup raised his eyebrows as Astrid walked beside him as they ventured into the forest but he didn't say anything to her, allowing her to come along if she wished. She couldn't help but think back to when she was five years old after the dragon attack just before the dragons all vanished;

_"Fall back!"_

_"The dragons are retreating!"_

_"We won this day!"_

_Astrid was being pulled through the village along with the other Berkian children. Before anybody could utter another word, a familiar voice screamed loudly. "STOICK! __**STOICK**__!" _

_Everbody immediately recognised the voice of the chief's kind wife Valka rushing through the crowd to her husband. She threw herself into his chest and sobbed hysterically while Stoick looked around at the crowd in worry before looking down at his distraught wife. "Valka..." he said softly, concern and worry showing in his eyes. "Where's Hiccup?"_

_Valka lifted her head up and her lips trembled at the mention of her child's name. "I'm sorry, Stoick," she whispered, each word jabbing her in the heart. "I'm so sorry."_

_Astrid and the other children watched in complete shock as their big and strong Chief dropped down to his knees and hysterically screamed up at the smoke-covered skies above, cursing the dragons as demons. _

_I'd never seen the Chief so broken_, Astrid thought to herself as she glanced at Hiccup who was smiling at the tailfin in his arms. She sighed to herself and looked up at the cloudy grey sky, who knew if Stoick would act the same ever again.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she followed Hiccup into the small cave that lead to inside of the cove. She mentally winced as she saw several spears still stuck in the ground which had been thrown at Toothless previously to prevent him from getting to Astrid and Snotlout when they took Hiccup back to the village.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, setting the tailfin down on the grass. He walked toward a tree where said-dragon was sleeping like a bat with his tail wrapped around a thick branch and his body upside-down. Hiccup stepped on a twig and Toothless' eyes opened straight away, his pupils enlarged when he saw Hiccup but all he did was drop to the ground and walk away from the boy. "Toothless?" Hiccup said again with a worried tone. In response, Toothless made a sad little sound before drooping his ears as he glanced at Hiccup.

Hiccup reached down and picked up the tailfin, causing Toothless to lift his ears up and tilt his head, completely curious. Hiccup grinned and knelt down, pulling the tailfin out so that Toothless could see what it looked like unfolded. The dragon sniffed it and then looked at his human, feeling bad for thinking Hiccup preferred his new life with the humans. As a way to apologise, Toothless curled around Hiccup and lifted the boy into his front legs, giving him a hug, Night Fury style.

Astrid watched this display before taking a deep breath. She was unsure of how the Night Fury would react to her but hopefully, she knew what she was doing as she stepped forward and began to climb down to the cove. As her feet hit the ground, Toothless' ears lifted and as fast as lightning, his head whipped around to face her...


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hello everybody! :) Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites, it means a lot! I've been so busy lately, going on courses, Apprenticeship interviews...The joys haha :) Thanks for reading! ^^**

* * *

Then...nothing. Astrid looked up and swallowed as Toothless just watched her, not moving from where he was with Hiccup. She took a step forward and then another and continued until she got too close, causing Toothless to growl quietly as a warning.

"It's alright..." she whispered, biting her lip nervously. Hiccup pulled himself away from Toothless and make strange growling sounds to the dragon before turning to Astrid.

"Hey..." he said softly, smiling at her. "Don't be scared. Toothless is a big softie; he's just being protective."

"Still..." Astrid muttered, walking over and cautiously glancing at Toothless who tilted his head at her. "Alright for you to say!" she yelped as Toothless stuck his face right in front of her eyes. "You've_ lived_ with this dragon! He might want to **eat** me!"

"Yes, because dragons eat girls..." Hiccup couldn't help to be sarcastic, it was in his nature. "Seriously, though; he likes fish," he quickly waved his hand at Astrid as she reached down to the basket. "No eel though," he laughed uncomfortably. "Dragons don't do so good with eels."

"Fair enough," Astrid said, grabbing a cod from the basket. "Eel's pretty disgusting anyway."

"Hey!" Hiccup grinned. "Something we have in common, eh, Toothless?"

The Night Fury grunted and stretched his head close to Astrid's hands. He sniffed the fish and then looked up at her with puppy-eyes. Before Astrid could say or do anything, he snatched the fish from her hands and wolfed it down, he then cocked his head and screwed up his face afterwards.

"W-What?" Astrid stuttered, backing off a little. "What's wrong? I thought you said he liked cod-"

"Ssh!" Hiccup held out his hand. "Wait a second; just watch."

Toothless began to make weird sounds with his throat, earning a concerned stare from Astrid which turned to disgust when he regurgitated half of the fish and looked at Astrid. Hiccup nodded at her and motioned her to pick it up.

She glanced down at the half-eaten fish and screwed her own face up. "I am **not** eating that."

* * *

"Nice going, Dagur," Alvin hissed, leaning over the wooden table in Dagur's cabin. "You just **had** to go and reveal yourself way too fast! I didn't even have a bloody chance to get to land my boat, let alone my ship!"

"Well, what was I** supposed** to do? You tell me!" Dagur punched one of the wooden walls angrily. "Berk made a fool of me...That runt and his stupid dragon...I should have just killed him!"

"Oh no ya' don't!" Alvin stood up and glared at the young chief. "You may have no use of that boy but I certainly do! Do you know what we'd accomplish with a scrawny child that has the powers of a demon?"

Dagur gave Alvin a blank look and simply folded his arms and leaned against the wall he'd been previously punching.

"Well I'll _tell_ you!" Alvin roared. "I'll have everything with that boy! Even Bludvist would fear me!"

"Bludvist? As in Drago Bludvist?" Dagur narrowed his eyes. "You'd give a Dragon Slayer to that mad-man? Are you out of your mind?"

"Do not test me, boy," Alvin snarled. "You wait for me, this time. I'll head to Berk and I'll bring you the beast and the boy, then you can stop your whining."


End file.
